The next Hollywood blockbuster you buy on disc will probably come with a free digital download, but you never quite know what you'll get.

With the boom in handheld gadgets, people like to keep their favourite movies in their pockets, but you don't always get what you pay for. Five years ago movies on DVD and Blu-ray started to come with a Digital Copy, redeemable in iTunes or Windows Media Player.

In the box you'd either find the digital copy on a separate disc or else a code for downloading the movie to your computer.

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At this point you were forced to choose between iTunes or Windows Media Player, you couldn't watch the movie in both. From here you could either copy the file to your Apple gadget or your Microsoft PlaysForSure-compatible media player.

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The Digital Copy system was great for Apple users but a pretty raw deal for everyone else.

Microsoft's PlaysForSure format was already in decline and only supported by a handful of devices.

Everyone else, such as the growing number of Android users, was left in the lurch. Over time Apple, Android and Windows Phone devices gained their own online movie stores, but if you wanted a free copy of a movie you'd just bought on disc, you were stuck with Digital Copy.

To keep up with the times, the major movie studios finally overhauled the Digital Copy system this year with the introduction of UltraViolet. This new format is both a step forward and step backwards, depending on which gadgets you own and how you want to watch your movies.

Introduced in Australia with the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, UltraViolet lets you watch your digital download on up to 12 devices. These can be a mix of PCs, Macs, Apple iGadgets and Android devices. Over time UltraViolet might also come to smart TVs, game consoles and other home entertainment gear.

To use UltraViolet you need to sign up with a partner such as EzyFlix, JB Hi-Fi NOW or Flixster and download their app. BlackBerry owners should look to the Flixster app for UltraViolet support, although Windows Phone 8 owners are still waiting.

The great thing about UltraViolet is that you have the choice of either streaming movies straight from the cloud or downloading them to your devices for offline playback. The downside of UltraViolet is that - unlike with iTunes - you can't download the movie to your computer and then copy it to your smartphone or tablet. You have to download a separate copy for every device.

iTunes users might be frustrated with this, but they're out of luck. If you buy The Hobbit, you're stuck with UltraViolet.

To further complicate things, not every movie studio is onboard with UltraViolet. Apple is holding out, while Disney has gone its own way with Digital Copy Plus since Iron Man 3. Digital Copy Plus grants you a choice of redeeming your digital download in iTunes or Android's Google Play store. Alternatively you can redeem your movie via EzyFlix and watch it on Apple and Android devices as well as your computer, but then you can't sync the movie from your computer to your mobile devices.

While it began with good intentions, right now the digital copy concept is a total mess. It's blind luck as to whether the next movie you buy will come with a digital copy format that suits you.

Wander through the movie aisles at your local store and you'll find a haphazard mix of Digital Copy, Digital Copy Plus and UltraViolet movies. It's important to read the fine print, as there's usually an expiry date for the digital copy and you can miss out altogether if you're buying an old movie.

When looking at movies you'll also encounter vague terms such as "double play", "triple play" and "quad play". They don't always mean the same thing and you could be getting any combination of DVD, Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray and a digital download. But don't expect to find every combination available for every movie. It's pure chance as to whether the movie studio offers your favourite movies in the formats that suit you.

This is all pretty frustrating if you've paid extra for a digital download which you can't actually use.

It's little wonder that some people take matters into their own hands and create their own digital copies using software such as Handbrake and AnyDVD.

At this point you're breaking Australian copyright law, which says it's legal to rip your music from disc but not your movies.

Of course until a few years ago it was also against the law to rip your CDs or even record live television.

Unfortunately this year's review of Australian copyright law is unlikely to change the stance on copying your movie library.

Until the law catches up with the technology you'll either have to take your chances with the supplied digital copy or break the rules and make your own.

7 comments so far

The sad thing is the movie studios didn't learn from the experience of the music industry who tried all kinds of half baked and hair brained digital copy schemes before realising they are music producers and distributors, not retailers.

Apple need to incorporate native UltraViolet support into iTunes and their store to create and Apple quality experience.

Commenter

John

Date and time

December 02, 2013, 12:30PM

Its funny though how fast we've gone from sitting at home at 8:30 on a Sunday night to watch a movie (that was in the cinemas over two years ago). Or if we wanted it sooner a visit to the DVD store. Suddenly its got to be available at any second on any device (preferably in HD). I'm not sure that's a valid demand. Of course the frustration is that it can be just that if you're willing to break the "law". All distributors do these days is actively reduce the end user experience.

Commenter

Peter

Location

Oz

Date and time

December 02, 2013, 1:20PM

As an iPad and Apple TV user, Ultraviolet is extremely frustrating! You can't watch Ultraviolet movies on TVs (unless you plug your computer into one).

As mentioned in the article, you have to download (over our slow ADSL internet) movies to each device. What's not mentioned is that this can't be done in the background on iPhones and iPads. You have to leave your device on and the Flixter app open while it downloads for several hours.

If you could redeem Ultraviolet movies in iTunes, Ultraviolet would be fine. You could download it to the PC and sync to each device. As it stands, Ultraviolut is useless for iPhone, iPad and Apple TV users.

Commenter

Derwan

Date and time

December 02, 2013, 5:01PM

And how about this in the terms and conditions of Ultraviolet:

"Downloading and streaming of UltraViolet content is subject to retailer's terms and conditions, which may be limited to 3 downloads and free unlimited streaming only for the first 12 months."

In other words, we can only download it completely 3 times - and we will not be able to stream it after 12 months. In other words, we won't OWN the digital copy.

Commenter

Derwan

Date and time

December 02, 2013, 5:05PM

i'm happy to pay for a movie - i think that is only right. why do these companies/associations go to great lengths to treat anyone who does not agree with them as criminals?

its simple: charge me to download it, give it to me in decent quality and dont force me to use all these proprietary viewers.

Commenter

frank

Date and time

December 03, 2013, 10:11AM

What really annoys me is the inability to purchase a movie in the format I require, without paying a premium for the extra copies. I'll buy some movies on DVD and some on BluRay, but I don't need a BluRay with a DVD and a digital copy, or even worse, a 3D BluRay with a 2D BluRay, a DVD and a digital copy. What a waste. How about a cheaper copy with a discount voucher for the extra formats if needed?

Commenter

DavidF

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

December 05, 2013, 11:11AM

and this is exactly why we torrent the movie or tv show that we want to watch, until I can buy a show or movie at a reasonable price, without all the DRM hurdles to jump through, it is bittorrent for me. I used to feel bad about stealing tv and then I remember who I am stealing from - Rupert Murdoch, Gina Reinhart and Kerry Stokes and their ilk. See, stealing doesnt feel so bad after all!